Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Gun inside woman's purse fires inside mall, bystander injured

A South Carolina woman with a valid concealed weapons permit was with her friend at the Inlet Square Mall. The woman had a loaded handgun in her purse and according to reports "the gun discharged when the woman placed her purse on the ground."
The bullet went out the purse and struck the friend in her right leg and then lodged in her left leg. The 59-year-old woman was taken to the local medical center where she was listed in stable condition.
Police said because the woman had a valid permit for the gun and she didn't intend to injure her friend no charges would be filed. However, the manager of the mall said the mall does not allow concealed weapons in the mall and that it is a crime that can be punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 or not more than five years in jail, or both.
There is no indication whether or not the woman will be charged with bringing a concealed weapon inside the mall.
There is also no report on what kind of gun the woman had or why it would fire after the simple act of placing her purse on the floor.
Ohh shoot.

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Ohh Shoot highlights unintentional shootings. Some might refer to these as accidental shootings, but accident is too often interpreted as unavoidable. The shootings on this blog did not have to happen. Safe storage, better gun design, gun safety training are just some of the measures that could have prevented these tragedies.